The Auditor: DiVincenzo talks to Democratic mayor about endorsing Christie

Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and Gov. Chris Christie embrace at Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange last month. At least one Essex County Democrat said he's talked to DiVincenzo about the prospect of endorsing Christie together.Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger

Is Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, the most powerful Democrat in one of the most Democratic counties in New Jersey, getting closer to endorsing Republican Gov. Chris Christie?

Belleville Mayor Raymond Kimble, a registered Democrat in a town that has nonpartisan elections, plans to endorse the governor. And The Auditor has learned that he talked to DiVincenzo about it.

“It’s certain that I’m going to endorse Gov. Christie,” Kimble told The Auditor. “I think the governor is going to help the town of Belleville with certain projects we need.”

While DiVincenzo has not committed to endorsing Christie, Kimble acknowledged they talked about the possibility of endorsing Christie together. But Kimble said he didn’t know “when or where or how,” or even if it would happen.

Kimble told The Auditor he had breakfast with Christie and DiVincenzo at McLoone’s Boathouse in West Orange on April 24. (Christie was spotted there by leaders of the Essex County Bar Association, who asked him to make an impromptu speech. He agreed, and took shots at Democratic state Sen. Richard Codey over judicial vacancies.)

DiVincenzo chief of staff Phil Alagia downplayed rumors of the county executive speaking with mayors, saying he often talks to them and “everyone in the state talks about gubernatorial politics.” He added that “Joe hasn’t made his mind up yet” on a gubernatorial endorsement.

The Auditor has also learned Bloomfield Mayor Raymond Mc-Carthy, another Democrat, plans to endorse Christie. McCarthy lost party support to run for re-election this year in the primary and is considering running as an independent. He said when his town encountered problems with the state, “I reached out to (Christie’s) office and it got handled.”

He sings the body electric

If East Orange Mayor Robert Bowser loses his bid to win a fifth term as the city’s chief executive, he could pursue another career: love poet.

Among the revelations in Bowser’s testimony regarding his extramarital affair with a city employee was that the 77-year-old mayor fancies himself an amateur bard, according to the 200-plus-page deposition.

As reported in The Star-Ledger last week, Bowser compared his research assistant, Corletta Hicks, to a beautiful fish he hoped to hook. His notes to Hicks, who later filed a discrimination suit against him, are strewn with poetic language.

“Good morning flower,” Bowser writes in one missive. “Hope your day brings new hope, new meaning to those things so close to our hearts. Folks at Planning Board said hello.”

Later, he muses, “Love is in the air. Breathe it in deeply for distribution throughout the body and soul. Enjoy the day. Be in by 10 or 10:15.”

The news of the affair comes just one month before Bowser faces off against chief rival Lester Taylor in the city’s Democratic primary.

“I thought I was being poetic,” Bowser said when asked by Hicks’ attorney about his choice of language. “I was feeling romantic.”

Sarlo to Guadagno: Fuhgeddaboutit

The Senate Budget Committee’s hearings on the Department of State have been fun to watch the past few years.

In 2010, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who doubles as Secretary of State, had a yelling match with committee Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) over Guadagno’s refusal to address any budget questions beyond her role as secretary of state. In 2011, Sarlo cut the hearing short after Guadagno leveled charges of fraud against members of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts — charges an investigation later showed had no merit.

Last year’s hearing was uneventful, but this year, Sarlo isn’t even holding one on Guadagno’s department. Why’s that, Chairman?

“Republican members — Tony Bucco and them — asked me to consolidate the number of days. So we eliminated (the departments of) Agriculture and State,” Sarlo told The Auditor. “The State Department, there’s no really major budget impact. If the lieutenant governor is willing to come talk about some of the big policy issues, the big budget issues and some of the unemployment numbers, that would be a different.”

The Assembly Budget Committee held a hearing on the department Thursday.